At least the kept the Wolverine name alive .. not like the poor Warrior. The rap 350 is a fine machine, but should have kept the Warrior name ..

 

I absolutely agree to that! You don't want the Wolverine to be called the "Raptor SUV 400"? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

If you do some checking, you'll find an older post of mine where I set up a test ride at a local Yamaha dealer to see for myself what the new 06 Wolverine was all about. In a nutshell, fit and finish is good, it rides well, controls are easy to operate,and it handles fine. It was definately NOT what I was hoping when I heard Yamaha was coming out with a "New" Wolverine, not a re-fendered Kodiak, I like the manual gear box for selecting my rpm to run in for the conditions I ride, I like to push the trail a bit, which means sometimes overrevving the corners a bit and being able to have more control over how the motor and transmission work together. Yamaha has gotten a little lazy as of late, slapping Raptor plastic on everything they make to make a different model from another. The Wolverine was made to bridge the gap between sport and utility, it had the motor of a sport quad, light weight, great suspension, and it was in a class by itself. By putting cheesy plastic on a Kodiak, they claim a "new" model, when they should be calling it a Kodiak Sport, or something like that. The Wolverine deserves better, a new motor,liquid cooled, a 5 or 6 speed semi auto, or even a sport clutch that can be auto or manual, and selectable 4wd to make it even sportier. And most of all, it needs it's OWN plastic, not a tired copy of what every other model is sporting. PLEASE WAKE UP, YAMAHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am not saying the new Wolverine is a bad quad, for trail riders and beginners, it is great, but belt drive, floorboards and cheesy plastic are not for me, and obviously not for a lot of other Wovlerine fans.

 

Well said 95Wolv, I agree completely. All we can hope for is another redesign in the near future. The current 06 is definitely not worthy of the Wolverine name. It really misses the original concept of the Wolverine by a mile...

 

I have been on that same bandwagon since the release. I even said in another post aht if Polaris sees the opening and puts 4x4 on the outlaw they would have what Yamaha should have built!

 

 

I totally agree also. We all liked the old Wolverine, we just wanted a little more power(ok maybe a lot) without a lot more weight. It is a great handling machine. The new Wolvy, while a fine machine, has lost a lot of what made the old Wolvy special; liteweight, racks, and MANUAL SHIFT. It's really just a Kodiak without the racks and low range(a must for a belt drive)